Jerry Nadler, lead sponsor of bill to repeal DOMA, chats on AmericaBlog

[ruggerson]

Hats off to Congressman Nadler for both his courage and his openness.

http://gay.americablog.com/2009/09/join-our-chat-with-rep-jerry-nadler.html

"Last week, Congressmembers Baldwin, Polis and I introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would repeal the overtly discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in its entirety. This bill was the product of many months of strategizing and planning with LGBT and Civil Rights advocates and we have garnered a phenomenal amount of support already across the country and in the House of Representatives, with 94 co-sponsors to date. This movement for marriage equality, which began long ago among LGBT leaders and activists, is now beginning in earnest on the federal legislative front. Though the task ahead is not easy, I feel confident that this bill WILL pass, and we must now turn to the work of making that happen.

Also paramount on my mind, and on the minds of millions of Americans, is the topic of health insurance reform. We have all participated or watched as this debate has intensified and as various proposals by the President and Congress have appeared, some good, some excellent, and some downright bad. Today, we are at the moment of truth. Greatly divergent bills have been introduced in the two houses of Congress and the fight to reconcile them is underway. I am, and have always been, committed to fighting for the bottom-line, common-sense provisions that the President and the American people have asked for, including: coverage for everyone, reasonable minimum standards of coverage for all policies, an end to policy rescissions due to illness, no barrier to coverage on account of pre-existing conditions, and a strong public option to keep prices down and instill healthy competition into the insurance marketplace."

http://gay.americablog.com/2009/09/join-our-chat-with-rep-jerry-nadler.html">More, including Q and A